It Is Well
by GhostInTheBAU
Summary: Reid and Callahan have an understanding. Written in honor and remembrance of the 15th anniversary of 9/11. Spoilers for Revelations 2x15, Epilogue 7x06, and A Thousand Suns 10x03


_My muse struck me with this idea after hearing the song It Is Well With My Soul and realizing that it was 9/11. I wrote it in an hour and it is unbeta'd, but I hope you enjoy._

 _Set in current time, between season 11 and 12_

 _Spoilers for Revelations 2x15, Epilogue 7x06, and A Thousand Suns 10x03_

* * *

 **It Is Well**

.

He walked up to the door and knocked. He could hear shuffling feet and then the door opened.

"Hey, Reid."

He smiled at her as she backed up to give him room to enter. "Hi, Kate."

Kate Callahan grabbed Spencer Reid as he walked over the threshold and gave him a big hug. He returned it with just as much vigor. It had been several months since they'd seen each other; the last time being when she'd met him and the rest of her old team at a karaoke bar. They'd returned from a rather grueling case and needed to let off some steam.

She let go and stepped aside as he entered the foyer carrying a tub of rocky road ice cream in one hand and a DVD in the other.

"I ordered Chinese."

Reid gave her a look that conveyed his mistrust of her motives.

She put her hands on her hips and cocked her head while he stared at her. "Don't worry, genius…I have forks."

Laughing, she grabbed the ice cream from him and took it to the kitchen

He entered the living room and sat on the sofa in front of the big screen. The food was already placed around the coffee table and he noticed his favorite afghan blanket draped over the back of the couch. He always curled up with that blanket when he came over.

Kate put the ice cream in the freezer, then grabbed a couple plates, some napkins, and a fork and headed into the living room to join him. She sat down next to Reid on the couch and placed a baby monitor on the table. "Tommy's already down for the night." She grabbed his hand and gave it a tight squeeze before letting go and sighing, "I'm glad you're here, Reid. I didn't really wanna be alone tonight."

He looked at her and saw the uneasiness in her eyes. "Of course I'd be here." He gave her a little laugh as he continued, "You know I never have any other plans. Where are Chris and Meg tonight?"

"Oh, Chris had a business trip and Meg is at a friend's house for the night. I'm pretty sure she knew you were coming over and made a point of not being here." Kate shook her head and muttered, "She's a tricky one…." She trailed off as she got lost in her own thoughts. Looking down at her hands she admitted, "You know, I always think it'll be easier next year….but then it's not. It still hurts. Every year."

Reid repositioned himself so he was directly facing Kate, his right leg pulled up underneath him and his right arm leaning on the back of the couch. She looked up to him as he replied, "I don't think it will ever stop hurting, Kate. It just gets easier to deal with." He pulled the afghan down onto his lap. "Especially if you've got friends to keep you company."

Kate stole half the blanket from Reid, sharing the warmth between the two. "Should it be easier to deal with? I mean, I don't want to forget. Meg was just a baby when Liz and Joe died. She'll never remember her parents."

"You won't forget. You just go on living and hope that you'll see them again someday."

Kate gave him a suspicious look. "I didn't think you believed in that stuff, Reid….souls and life after death?"

Reid looked down for a moment, brows furrowed in thought and contemplation. "I saw the afterlife," he murmured. He shifted his gaze up to see Kate's eyes grow wide with curiosity as she stared at him. "I mean, or what could have been…" He cleared his throat and narrowed his eyes as he remembered that cold night in a shed in Georgia. "I died once."

Kate remained quiet but the shock was clear on her face as Reid carried on with his story.

"Tobias Hankel was an unsub with Dissociative Identity Disorder. He kidnapped, drugged and tortured me for two days. I ended up having a heart attack from an overdose and I died." He was lost in his thoughts as he relived the moment. "Tobias ended up resuscitating me, but before he did I saw a dark figure surrounded by a bright, warm light." He looked up at Kate and she placed a hand on his knee as a comfort while she listened. "Some people say that the lights you see with near death experiences are due to the bright lights of the ER….," he shook his head in uncertainty, "but I was in a dark shed."

"I never knew that, Reid." Her voice was soft and full of sympathy as she regarded her friend.

"I haven't told many people. I told the team once, but…." He glanced toward the TV for a moment before shifting his eyes back to his lap where he was fidgeting with the blanket. "I'm a man of science, and I didn't know how to deal with what I saw at first. There's no quantifiable proof that God exists yet in that moment I was faced with something that I couldn't explain. I still can't explain it…." Reid put his hand over Kate's, which was still resting on his knee. "It helps me to think that if the human soul does exist, Maeve is somewhere waiting for me. That she's happy somewhere. Liz and Joe—"

Kate cut him off, "They could be happy, too." She gave him a slight smile.

"Yeah, and that thought helps me through." Reid sighed, "It makes it well with my soul."

They both sat there for a few moments in quiet contemplation; then Kate cleared her throat and broke the silence, trying to lighten the mood. "So…what did you bring this time?"

Reid's lips curved up into a proud grin. "Oh, you're in for a treat tonight." He held up the DVD that he'd placed on the other side of the couch.

"Oh my gosh!" Kate squealed. "You got series three!?"

"Of course….did you think I'd let you down tonight of all nights Callahan?" he joked.

She slouched down into the couch as she quipped, "It's a good thing Chris is out of town, he doesn't need to see me drooling over Benedict Cumberbatch."

Reid quirked his brow in confusion. "He makes a marvelous Sherlock Holmes, but I really can't see the appeal he has with women." He got up, walked to the TV and placed the DVD in the player. "I mean, the guy looks like an otter!"

Kate laughed and threw a pillow at his face in retaliation.

Reid huffed as he brought the pillow back and sat down. "Ow…"

Smiling, she teased, "Oh, come on you big baby…here." She passed him the container of sesame chicken while she spooned some moo goo gai pan onto her own plate. They leaned back, sharing the blanket as they began eating and Reid pressed play on 'Many Happy Returns'.

…

And that's what they do, every year, on September 11th as long as Reid's in town. If he's on a case then they get together immediately after he returns.

It's important, and it's just for them.

The rest of the team doesn't know.

It helps them both cope.

And it helps them heal.

* * *

 _Thank you for reading, and let us never forget._


End file.
